Incurable
by Katraa
Summary: With a horrible burden on his chest, Sora decided it was best to go with Riku to Rome for two weeks as a graduation present. But really, was ten years of tension expected to stay within? .rikusora.
1. start

another new story? well, yes. i promise this one will be short. definitely not as long as my others. this one is fluffier and more ...fun than the others, yes?  
I know the first chapter may not seem all that happy and fluffy, but i assure you the next few will be.  
and yes, more background information and details will come in the next few chapters.  
because, after all, when in rome

* * *

**Incurable**

"I don't want to hear it, Riku. I already know it's going to be fine. I mean, I have all my hair," Sora stated and poked his brown spikes that were sticking out arbitrarily, "I feel fine," he patted his body, remaining seated, "and my bruises go away. I'm _fine_."

The silver haired teenager (nineteen to be precise) who sat beside Sora quirked his thin, silvery brow. Twinkling aquamarine eyes watched the brunet beside him with growing curiosity. Sora promptly folded his lanky arms across his chest, slumping further back into the chair. His friend, the silveret, Riku, slouched back as well, an amused glimmer dancing across his green eyes. Sora noticed this and instantly pouted at the silver haired teenager, sitting up a bit straighter on the uncomfortable bench of the clinic.

"It's best to check, isn't it? I mean you've been sick a lot, so—," the silveret had begun in a calm, neutral voice. His eyes averted themselves off the clinic's bleach white wall and back over to Sora beside him, "—I figured it'd be better to know now instead of constantly being nagged at by your mom to be checked."

Sora's lips fell into a deep frown. "What are the odds, Riku?" the brunet demanded, continuing to pout at the older teen. He was quite good for that.

"Your father had it…so the odds are high," Riku explained casually and then went on to say, "Though I hope you don't. I mean, you _are_ right about not showing all the symptoms. Maybe _I'm_ the one paranoid."

"Precisely!" Sora retorted with a nonchalant smirk. "I'm _fine_. All we're doing is wasting my mom's money on a stupid test that I already know the answer for! And yes, you are paranoid."

"Don't get cocky," Riku said, warning the brunet teen beside him. Sea-green eyes filled to the brim with amusement as Sora rocked back and forth on his seat, pretending to listen to what the older of the two was saying. He did not mind it much, though. As long as Sora was in a good mood, he didn't care _what_ his friend did. Then again, he did have his limits.

"I'm not cocky. If anyone is, it'd be you," Sora stated with a soft smile, tearing his gaze off the walls. Blue hues settled upon Riku instead—which was really a far more gorgeous view.

Riku arched a brow. "You're calling me cocky?..."

"In a backwards sort of way, yes," Sora answered and then promptly nodded, "I mean; you do flaunt your _good looks_ and _smooth moves_ all the time." Sora made bending finger motions, as if to show that he was quoting the other.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Are you jealous?"

"Jealous that you have STDs? Of course," Sora answered simply and then combusted into a fit of giggles. He lifted his right hand and curled it into a fist. He covered his mouth and attempted to stifle his laughter. After all, he didn't want to disrupt the others in the friendly clinic.

Riku rolled his eyes, _again_. "I don't. Ever heard of protection?"

"Doesn't always work, you know!" Sora pointed out, still laughing. "Then again, I wouldn't know 'cause I'm a virgin, unlike _somebody_ in this room." Sora then pointed the accusing finger in Riku's _general_ direction. "I'd rather save myself for when I fall in love! Which won't be for awhile because I'm _fine_ and I don't have cancer, so can we please just leave?!"

"Sora," Riku stated sternly, placing a hand onto his jittery friend's knee. "You already took the test. Not sticking around to hear the results would be pointless. It'd be like, oh I don't know, wasting your mother's money?" he quoted, eyebrows knitting together in determination. Determination that only Riku Karada could make look so damn appealing.

"Riku!" Sora whined, balling his hands up. "I already _know_ the results. I don't have it! Can we please just leave?"

Riku blinked and then teasingly leaned closer. Sora instinctively froze and then proceeded to drain of any color. "Are you acting like a smartiepants because you're afraid? You're usually not this loud and obnoxious and just plain whiny, unless of course, you're nervous. Which, honestly, I think you are." He placed a hand onto Sora's shoulder, smirking. "Now, please take a deep breath and calm yourself."

Sora did as he was instructed. Hurt, blue eyes flickered away from Riku's. "Riku, you're my best friend…you're supposed to agree with everything I say or do. I mean, that's what best friends do and all. You're breaking the mold, you know."

"Sora," Riku said firmly. "You're talking too much again."

Sora shut up and closed his eyes, nudging his shoulder away from Riku's warm touch. "So what if I'm afraid?... I have the right to be, right? I mean… it's not every day that your best friend and mother insist you take a test to see if you have a deadly disease."

Riku frowned sympathetically at his younger friend. "We care about you, dork. That's why."

Sora shrugged his thin shoulders, eyes cracking open. He watched as a young girl walked by cheerfully, sucking on a lollypop. Her eyes twinkled happily. Sora absently wondered if he would come out of this clinic looking just as happy as that youthful girl. For some reason, Sora highly doubted it, despite his optimistic demeanor. "Okay, so you care," Sora repeated, "But…"

"No but's, Sora," Riku said with a shake of his head, silver hair falling into his slim face. "There will only be _butts_ if there is _sex_ involving two guys."

Sora quirked a brow and turned his attention and gaze back to Riku, the clinic surroundings seeming to melt clear away. "Excuse me?... What kind of lame pun is that?"

Riku frowned once more. "A witty one, you ass." He stuck his nose up and pointedly turned to the right, mockingly ignoring his friend. If it cheered Sora up and kept him from worrying, then Riku would do it.

"Oh but _Riku_, I thought you said the only butts would be during sex. Are you suggesting that you want me?" Sora teasingly jabbed his finger into his own chest. His eyebrows waggled and he soon after burst into another fit of giggles at the expensive of his older, teenage friend. Sometimes their friendship was unbelievable. So abusive, but amazing.

"Oh yes, Sora," Riku mocked, placing his hand on Sora's leg, upon his inner thigh. "I want you _so_ much that I'm going to pin you to this bench, suck you dry, and then fuck you senseless, making you scream my name so loud. And we'll break the bench too."

Sora tensed and gaped. "…Riku, we're in a public place," he whispered harshly, cheeks aflame. "People are going to think we're _gay_," he deadpanned, keeping his gaze averted as he uneasily laced his hands together in his lap. Talk about awkward conversations in public. Only Riku could pull off such a thing.

"Oh well," Riku said with a shrug. "It wouldn't be the first time someone thought that about us."

Sora covered his mouth once more, fighting back another round of laughter. "I know," he said in a muffled voice from behind his hand, "remember that time at the carnival when that old couple kept staring at us?"

"Mhm," Riku stated simply, leaning back against the uncomfortable bench. "The old lady was probably saying, '_Look, Carlton, those two boys are pretty close. I bet they're going to sneak behind the goldfish stand and have a little fun_'," he mocked in his best old-lady-voice impersonation.

Sora held back a fifth laugh. "And her husband was probably like, '_Wanna watch?'_"

Riku cocked a brow. "So you're implying that the old guy was some creepy pedophile who would have wanted to watch two amazingly hot teenage guys do it?"

"Did you _see_ the way he was staring at you? He was practically raping you with his eyes!" Sora stated, dramatically making hand gestures. A smile appeared on his thin lips as he watched his best friend. "I had to keep glaring at him to keep him in line."

"How could you? You were staring at my ass the entire time, Sora," Riku answered, jabbing Sora in the forearm with a deep chuckle. "Don't think I didn't see you." His aquamarine eyes twinkled mischievously as he lowered his hand.

"Idiot," Sora murmured, folding his arms to his chest as he planted his feet squarely down onto the clinic floor. "I wasn't staring at your behind, I was staring at the hot girl in front of you that your fat body kept blocking." A soft blush appeared on his cheeks as he looked away. Hopefully the blush would go undetected.

"Oh, you mean that Marissa girl?"

"That her name?" Sora looked over to Riku, glad that the silveret had taken the bait.

"I think so. Blonde?" Nod. "Then yeah." Pause. "What? You want to date her or something? She's a total whore, Sora," the silveret reasoned, shaking his head in disbelief. Carefully, the lanky teenager placed a thin hand onto Sora's shoulder. "I wouldn't want my best friend to date some girl who'll just use him for sex. Then again…you did say you were waiting until marriage so…whatever."

"You're confusing me, stop talking," Sora ordered, eying the boy beside him. The smile never once faded from his youthful, round face.

"And you're—" Riku began but was cut short when a tall blonde carrying a chart entered the waiting room of the clinic. Her bleach blonde hair was pulled back neatly into a bun and she seemed entirely plastic—fake. Her blue eyes stared emptily at the pair for a long moment, as if surveying them, before they lowered themselves to the sheet of paper on her clipboard.

"Sora Kayaki," she read, her pointy nose tilting upwards as she scanned the room for the designated person.

Sora sat up a bit. "Oh, right here," he said quickly, getting to his feet. He offered her a friendly smile, as he always did with strangers. She didn't return the gesture, and instead averted her gaze.

"Follow me," she murmured under her breath, turning on her black heels.

"Can my friend come with me?" Sora interjected quickly, not wanting to leave Riku behind in the waiting room.

"Relatives only," she stated astutely, beginning her descent down the eerily white hallway.

Sora winced and looked over his shoulder to Riku. "Hey uhm…I'll be back," he said, pointing out the obvious. He tossed his friend a small smile before hurrying down the halls after the nurse, not wanting to get lost in the clinic he had only been to two in his life.

As the pair walked, Sora's mind began to race. The first time he was here he couldn't remember, simply because he was an infant. His mother had brought him here for his shots and a physical. After that, Sora's mom found another doctor for herself and Sora. The second time he walked through these halls, though, was fresh in his mind. It was two years ago. His mother had been walking beside him, her small hand in his own. She didn't say anything as they walked.

When they had reached the room, their father greeted them with a jovial smile and hug, as he always did. The man was full of energy, even in the sick state he was currently in. Then the news had come. Sora's mother had closed the door and taken a seat in one of the vacant chairs. She had ushered Sora to sit beside her. Within moments, the doctor had told the family that their beloved father had a mature case of cancer and that he only had half a year to live. They had lied. He was dead within three months…the cancer rapidly ate through his body and killed him from the inside out.

Sora snapped out of his memories as the blonde nurse stopped before a door—not the same door as that time four years ago, thankfully. "Go in," she urged, motioning for Sora to enter the room.

"Thanks," Sora murmured graciously as he entered. He watched as the nurse stalked away, refusing to make any further eye contact.

Sora sighed and closed the door, allowing the silence of the room to absorb him entirely. Now that he was away from Riku, the fear began eating away at him. What would he do if by some odd chance he _did_ have cancer? What would his mother do? He gulped painfully and took a seat on the examination table. It was so cold, so unforgiving.

Uneasily, Sora began twiddling his thumbs together, attempting to keep his breathing even. When his mother had suggested he get tested, he vehemently rejected the idea. Not because he thought it was a waste of time or money, as he had told Riku, but because he was just that damn afraid. He _saw_ the pain his father went through, and he saw the grief on his family's face when he died. He didn't want that to happen again, but to himself.

He was only eighteen. He was an adult, but yet he was still a child. What if he did have cancer? Was he just going to die? Sora held his head weakly in his hands, trying his best to think positively. He didn't really have any symptoms, other than that annoying bruise on his ankle he had had for awhile. He treated it more like a scar than anything, simply because it looked like one. It wasn't a bruise; he told himself over and over, it just wasn't.

Of course, if he had _told_ Riku about that mark, the silveret would have freaked out. The last thing Sora wanted to do was to upset and worry his best friend of ten years. Riku had always been so understanding and humorous and just…Sora didn't want to see him anything _but_. He didn't want to see him grief-stricken. But, if he did have cancer, who else could he tell?...

"Sora Kayaki?" asked a man in white who had seemed to magically enter the room. His big, sympathetic brown eyes were covered by black rimmed glasses.

"Yeah, that's me," Sora answered, lifting his head up from its position. He offered the doctor a friendly smile, despite how horrible he was feeling inside. If only Riku could see him now, he would realize that his cocky and irritable state in the waiting room was only a façade to hide his trepidation. If only.

"You're here for your test results, correct?" the large man asked, sifting through a folder that had Sora's name written on it in Arial font.

Sora nodded slowly.

"Are your parents here?" the doctor wondered, removing a few papers. He glanced over them for a moment before looking back up to Sora, awaiting an answer.

"No, my mom's at work," he answered quietly, lacing his hands together in his lap. "I'm eighteen so I just came here by myself," he murmured, adding that last bit on. He didn't want his mother involved.

"Ah, right," the doctor said with a nod. He began analyzing the results for a long moment; so many numbers, so many words. Why couldn't they just say _Yes _or _No_? Then again, nothing in life was that simple.

"Is it…bad?" Sora found himself asking, feeling as if he was in one of those bad medical movies his mother often watched.

The doctor frowned, removing his glasses. Carefully, he brought them to his shirt and gave them a quick wipe down before looking to Sora. His eyes met the brunet's and silence fell over the room yet again. "Have you been feeling weak at all, lately? Light-headed? Overly lethargic?"

"Not particularly," Sora admitted, shaking his head. "Maybe a bit sleepy, but that's not unusual for me. I love to sleep." He laughed restlessly and scratched the nape of his neck, doing his best to continue smiling.

"You see this number?" the doctor questioned, pointing at a rather ambiguous cluster of numbers.

"Yeah?" He didn't really.

"It's low."

"Is that…bad?" Sora wondered, eying the paper and then to the doctor again.

"It means your count is low…"

"Oh…" Sora stared at the doctor for a long moment. And it hit him, quick and hard. He wouldn't be telling him that if it was something good. The brunet paled, suddenly feeling a bit faint and fatigued. He gulped a few times, having difficulty swallowing and breathing. He couldn't…he just couldn't have it. No. It wasn't fair. It wasn't _fair_.

"I'm sorry," the doctor murmured, closing the file as he looked to the right. "It's…developed quite rapidly. I'm not quite sure if there is anything we can do to stop it from progressing any farther." Pause. "We're quite booked this month, but I assure you we can get you in early next month for another test. Bring your mother then, and we'll go over procedures we can attempt to stop it…if at all possible. If it's fatal, it'll be too far mature by then. If it's curable…it'll be treatable then. Right now, it's too hard to tell."

Sora stared blankly at the man. "So I…I…have it, don't I?"

"Yes," the doctor stated carefully, and that was simply all Sora needed to hear.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Sora requested that the doctor make his appointment in the examination room and not in the waiting room at the desk. He didn't want Riku to see that he needed another appointment. When the doctor was finished, he offered to bring Sora back into the clinic's waiting room and gently tell whoever was with him the bad news. Sora declined and told the brown-eyed man he could handle it himself. So, as slowly as possible, Sora made his way back up the hallway, being the only living person in that corridor.

Sora arrived at the main room four minutes later, his eyes glued to the floor. He heard Riku set down a magazine from across the room and walk over, eyes trained on him. If it was possible to hear fear, Sora heard it loud and clear. Weakly, the brunet lifted his gaze and looked wearily at his friend. He forced on a smile.

"Hey," Riku greeted, offering his own rare smile. "You okay?"

Sora shivered down to the core. He figured it was because it felt wrong to hear Riku speak so softly and worriedly. He had no idea. "I'm…fine at the moment, yeah," he stated carefully, averting his gaze at once. He couldn't bear to stare at Riku any longer, knowing the pain he was going to inflict in a few simple words.

Riku wasn't going to ask any questions just yet. "I'll drive you home," he said quietly, reaching out to touch Sora's shoulder. His aquamarine eyes widened when Sora didn't flinch or move away, as he usually did when they playfully did such things. That was all he needed to know the verdict.

"Can we go to your place?" Sora suggested in a coarse whisper, struggling to keep it all together. His mind was numb and his death sentence had not set in yet.

"Sure," Riku said and brought his arm around Sora's shoulders. He offered the quiet brunet another smile and began leading him outside, ignoring the heavy thumping in his chest. "My mom's at work so we'll have to make dinner ourselves," he explained as they walked, hoping that the conversation would lighten Sora's dreary mood.

"Right, she works late during the week," Sora remembered as he nodded. "That's fine. I'm a pretty good cook," he whispered.

"I'll cook," Riku interjected in way of correction.

Sora blinked and eyed his best friend. He said nothing more and allowed Riku to lead them outside of the clinic. It was raining, lightly. The small, wet drops of precipitation hit his head repeatedly as they hurried through the crowded parking lot towards the back. Once at Riku's car, the silveret's arm slipped off Sora's shoulders and opened the door for him. "Here," he offered.

Sora wasn't used to Riku being so kind…hell, he didn't even know that being this gentle was possible for the cocky boy. "Thanks." He got in.

Riku got in the car as well and shortly after started it. He didn't bother turning on the radio. Instead, he drove out of the parking lot and straight home, not bothering to start a conversation either. The humid and quiet air clung to Sora's shaking body and it was hard to keep awake.

They arrived at Riku's ten minutes later. The rain was starting to fall harder and the pair of teenage boys had to run to Riku's front door to keep from getting drenched. Riku quickly opened his front door and held the door open for the brunet. His manners seemed as prominent as the icy rain that plundered down from the angry heavens above.

Riku closed the front door and kicked off his wet sneakers. He laughed under his breath and shook his head, allowing the water to dispel from his silvery locks. The warmth of his house shrouded both him and the brunet at once. "Some storm, huh?" he commented, peeling off his jacket and placing it on the nearby coat rack.

"It is," Sora agreed with a soft, forced laugh. He bent down and carefully removed his own shoes, placing them on the doormat. He wasn't wearing a jacket so he didn't have to worry about removing one.

"Wanna head up to my room?" Riku suggested, casually tilting his head to the side. His aquamarine eyes twinkled as they usually did, but not with humor, but with sadness.

"Of course," Sora answered. He watched with a sad smile as Riku trekked up his stairs and towards his bedroom. Sora followed faithfully, his stomach churning with guilt and anxiety. He had to verbally tell Riku. He just had to. Riku was his _best friend_, he deserved to know.

Riku entered his bedroom silently and took a seat on his bed. He watched as Sora entered. Silence.

"So, uhm…" Riku began.

"Riku…" Sora whispered weakly. He stared at his best friend and fought back a barrage of tears. He released a weak noise and sat down quickly. He averted his gaze and dug his fingertips into his soft palm, trying his best not to cry. He hated to cry and didn't want to appear weak before Riku.

"Are you going to tell your mom?" Riku murmured. He draped an arm around Sora's shoulders and watched him sadly. All their jokes seemed so insignificant. Now was not a time for teasing or joking, now was a rare time to be serious.

"No," Sora admitted, biting his bottom lip. "At least, not until next month. I…have another appointment. I'll know…then if it's fatal or not." He hung his head low. "What a way to start summer vacation, huh?" he asked spitefully.

"Sora…" Riku brought his other arm around Sora as well and tugged the weak brunet towards him. At once, his best friend collapsed against the taller, burying his brown head into Riku's chest. "I'm sorry," he suggested, voice quiet and gentle.

"Why me?...Why?" he murmured as he clung desperately to the older. "Why _now_? Why, Riku?"

"I don't know," Riku admitted, stroking Sora's back sympathetically. "I don't know, Sora. If I did, I'd tell you."

"It's not _fair_," Sora groaned as he began trembling uncontrollably.

"I know," Riku answered and rested his chin to the top of Sora's head. "I know, Sora." His hands continued massaging the younger's back. "I'll go with you next month, as well, okay? I promise I'll be there for you."

Sora nodded dully and remained against Riku, absorbing the other's comfort and warmth. "I don't want you to tell my mom…please, don't. Not yet," he begged, his body tired and exhausted.

"I won't," Riku assured, eyes closing. Was he holding back tears of his own? "…You said the appointment is next month, right?" Sora nodded dully for a second time. "I know now is a really sucky time to be asking you, but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and my mom to Rome for two weeks?...You'll be back before your appointment, I assure you. I was going to ask you tomorrow but…I wasn't really expecting any of this to happen."

Sora peeked up and eyed Riku. "…I can't. I can't possibly accept something like that, Riku. Plane tickets are expensive. As are hotels…"

"Don't worry about the price," Riku laughed quietly and gave Sora a small smile. "I want you to come, all right? I want you to have fun. Can you do that for me?"

Sora sighed miserably. "I'll have to ask my mom," he murmured and averted his gaze. "After I tell her that the results were good…"

Riku appeared perturbed. "Why are you waiting to tell her?"

"I need to think of a way to do so it doesn't completely devastate her," he mumbled as he buried his head once again into his friend's chest. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Riku. I can't leave my mom. I just _can't_ die."

"You'll be fine," Riku said uneasily as he breathed irregularly. "We'll go back in a month and they'll retest you and they'll say that it's easily curable and you'll be fine, okay, Sora?"

"I wish," Sora scoffed and closed his eyes, indulging himself yet again in Riku's arms. "You sure you want me with you guys in Rome?"

"Of course," Riku answered automatically. "It'll keep your mind off things…and it'll be fun."

"Yeah…" Sora fell silent and instead settled upon relaxing. Maybe the test results would prove to him that he was going to live. But right about now, he didn't feel any shred of hope. It felt like his whole world had suddenly been turned upside down. The only person that currently knew was Riku and his doctor…his mom couldn't know. Not yet. And now he was going with Riku to Rome? He should be _excited_, _elated_, even…but the misery overcame the excitement. Perhaps in the morning he would feel better.

"Wanna make some dinner?" Riku suggested, hands stroking Sora's back continuously.

"In a bit…for now…can you just hold me?" Sora whispered, no longer feeling obligated to appear strong and cocky. Right now he just wanted Riku to hold him.

"Of course…" Riku smiled sadly and buried his nose into Sora's locks of brown.

"Thank you, Riku. Really, thank you…"

Too bad neither of them knew that the test results were inaccurate…


	2. from here to there

_uhm , well basically honors classes are a major drag. especially when you study far too much. anyways, i've barely had time to write, but i assure you all that there will be a plethora of updates througout all my stories. hopefully. i have one down, so that's a good sign. anyway, i'd love it if you could leave a review. _

**INCURABLE**

The clanking of pots and pans from the kitchen often drowned out the sound of the midday train that cut behind the old house. The dinners would range from pasta to steak to pizza. The meal usually deepened on the weather and day. Regardless of what the meal was, Sora's mother would begin cooking dinner, every night, at precisely five. Dinner would be served, with a smile, at six. It had been that way for as long as Sora could remember, and he hoped with every ounce of his heart that it would remain that way. Family dinners were a rarity in the brunet's age group, so having a mother who was home consecutively to cook up a home-cooked meal allowed Sora to feel all the more _unique_. It was something constant in his life that provided stability to his other hectic high school life.

Sora lingered uneasily by the entrance to the kitchen. His feet shuffled against the old carpet beneath him—his mother was planning on redoing the carpet, but the brunet liked the rustic blue hue and weathered feel upon his feet—it reminded him that this was their home. He shakily peeked around the doorway and held his breath. Now all those years of theater in middle school would pay off.

"Sora, is that you?" his mother questioned as she brought a cup over to the sink. Her blue eyes wandered off her task and over to her son. A smile lifted onto her thin, glossy lips. "Hey hunny," she greeted, answering her own question.

"Hey mom," Sora answered automatically. A weary smile manifested onto his lips as he ambled through the kitchen, his socked feet making it difficult not to slide. "I'm going to set the table," he explained, wandering over to the silverware drawer.

"Thanks," she responded, bringing the cup of water back to the stove. She resumed her task of cooking, the smile never leaving her lips.

As Sora was taking out a few forks and knives, she spoke again. "So, how'd it go?" There was obvious fear in her voice, just as easily detectable as how hard she was attempting to conceal it. Her gaze did not turn to Sora this time; it remained on the pans.

Sora's stomach lurched, churned, and did a flop. His heart stung—how could he lie to his mother? "Well, it went well," he stated quietly. His fingers closed around two forks and two knives. Carefully, he brought them over to the small table, doing his best to remain calm.

His mother peered over her shoulder. "That's a relief," she chuckled softly, raising her free hand to place it gently over her heart. "You had me worrying all day."

"I'm sorry," Sora apologized, his shoulders falling downward into a shrug. He placed the utensils on the table and glanced back over to his mom—she was so strong, he wished he could be like her. "I went to Riku's after we left."

"Oh…" She paused. She reached for some plates and began dishing out the pasta she had prepared. "I take it you already ate?"

"Just a bit," Sora responded, lacing his hands behind his back. "Riku's a better cook than I imagined," he joked, feeling the need to lighten the mood. It was far too heavy and dreary to withstand.

"I'll have to get him to cook for me sometime," his mother laughed. Vigilantly, she maneuvered her way across the small kitchen, over to the table. "Sit," the brunette instructed, placing the pair of plates down.

Sora did as he was told. "Looks good," he offered, adjusting to the hard wood.

"Thanks," his mother responded, grabbing a fork. She began twirling the spaghetti around but then paused. "You don't have to eat all of it," she explained, the smile never leaving, "just a bit. I know you already ate."

"Right," Sora responded. He took his fork and began eating slowly. "It's good."

"Thank you again," his mother said. She paused, swallowing. "All right, you're never this polite," she began, fixing her gaze to Sora's, "what are you going to spring on me now, Sora?" To emphasize her statement, she leaned her skinny chin onto her free palm.

"Well, uh…" Sora gulped and set his fork down beside his plate. "Riku asked me something today."

"Oh?" She arched a brow, a look of surprise crossing her face. A crafty, all-knowing look followed.

"Yeah…I wasn't really expecting it. I'm not sure what to say," Sora admitted, sighing.

"Well, it's about time," his mother pointed out, nodding fiercely. "I wasn't going to say anything, but he's been—"

"About time?" Sora repeated, now blinking in confusion. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

The brunette paused. "Oh…" she drawled, a light blush crossing her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm jumping to conclusions again," a laugh, "now, what did he ask you, Sora?" The blush grew on her face. That would have been horrible to say.

"All right…." Sora trailed off, staring at his mother in perplexity. What was she thinking? Regardless, he went on. "Riku and his mom are going to Rome for a few weeks. They…wanted to know if it was all right if I come with them?" He gulped and averted his gaze. He _detested_ asking his mother things. It was just a weird habit of his.

"That's so sweet of them," she stated with a warm, adoring smile. "They're such great people," she murmured to herself before looking to Sora. "Do _you_ want to go?"

"I don't want to be a burden or inconvenience. Plane tickets are expensive and everything. I told Riku I'd ask you," he explained, lowering his blue gaze. He quietly began poking at his second dinner.

"You can go if you want," his mother informed her son, resuming her meal as well. "Tell Aerith that I'll pay for your plane ticket there and your hotel if she wants. I don't want to appear rude, so offer. Of course, I'll need to know when you are leaving and what day you will return and all that nitty-gritty, so make sure to figure that out as soon as possible," she instructed, taking a bite of the pasta. If it was any other family, Sora knew she would have denied his request.

"All right, I can do that," Sora said, a large smile appearing on his lips. Just for that moment, his worries and fears disappeared. He was going to _Rome_ for the first time ever, with his _best friend_. How could it get any better than that? "Thanks, mom!"

"No problem," she responded, watching her son with twinkling eyes. "I've got an idea. Why don't you call Riku and have him spend the night? I can't remember the last time you two have had a sleepover. I'm always at work when he's over."

Sora blinked in surprise. "Uhm…well, I could do that," he began, averting his gaze again. It was true. He couldn't remember the last time Riku spent the night. The two usually hung out at each other's houses during the day and afterschool.

"Doesn't his mother work tonight?" Sora's mother wondered, tapping her skin with her free hand. Her bracelet jingled as she did such.

"Yeah," Sora responded with a nod. "She went to work at two, I think. She works until midnight or something."

"All the more reason to have Riku over," she laughed and gestured to her right. "Go call him now. I know you're not going to eat much." She proceeded to place her fork on her plate and lace her fingers under her chin. "Plus, I can thank him myself for the trip."

"Okay."

Sora nodded and hurried to do as his mother instructed. Never once did the thought of his disease enter his mind. Things, perhaps, were going to turn out all right after all.

**xxxxxxxx**

"Your mom is so nice. Makes me wonder why my mom can't learn from her," Riku noted as he dragged his sleeping bag up the stairs. His aquamarine gaze remained on Sora's back as they trekked up the small flight. Once at the top, Sora led the silveret into his bedroom, remaining silent. Riku didn't question this—he knew what was going through Sora's head, he didn't want to make it worse by nagging.

"You didn't have to sleepover if you didn't want to, you know," Sora stated as he entered his bedroom. His gaze finally lifted off the floor and drifted over to Riku's. He smiled thankfully, betraying his words. Having Riku here on _this_ night was probably the best thing for him.

"Nah, I wanted to," Riku assured, sitting down on the bed. He placed his bag at his feet and motioned for Sora to take a seat beside him as well.

"You positive?" Sora asked, shifting onto the bed beside his friend. "Absolutely certain?"

"Of course I am. One hundred percent," Riku stated simply, flashing a dazzling smile at the brunet. "Now, what do you want to do? Watch movies? Or do you want to try your luck at Halo? That is, of course, if you feel like getting your ass kicked." He chuckled, nudging the laconic Sora in the shoulder.

Sora pouted. "Just because you beat me once—"

"Every single time we've played I've beaten you," Riku corrected, nonchalantly flipping his hair. He resisted laughing at the histrionic movement.

"Okay, fine, _every time_ we've played," Sora repeated, the pout remaining. "I don't really want to play Halo. Not…really in the mood for death," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. His playful attitude came and went in the blink of an eye.

"Ah, right," Riku answered automatically. He sighed and folded his arms to his chest, his aquamarine eyes reimaging trained on Sora. "Then what _do_ you want to do? We have to keep ourselves preoccupied for the entire night. Best to start throwing out ideas now, you know?"

"We can always go online," Sora suggested, nudging his head to the left. "I'm sure we can find some stupid videos online to laugh at." The brunet offered a weary smile, but then paused a bit to watch Riku's gaze. He glanced about, just to make certain that it was him that Riku was watching so intently. "Something wrong?"

"Online sounds like a good idea," Riku agreed, getting up from the bed. He lingered by it for a few moments. "And nothing's wrong. Just zoning out, that's all." The silveret chuckled and trekked across the bedroom to the desktop resting on the desk nestled in the far corner of the bedroom.

Sora nodded and walked over as well. He laced his hands behind his back and peered over the taller's shoulder as he turned on the pc.

"Grab a chair," Riku urged, peering over his shoulder at his standing friend. "Or you can have this one. I can kneel. It wouldn't be the first time."

And Sora's mind was currently in the gutter for unusual reasons. "W-what?" he sputtered, having been caught off guard by the statement.

Riku arched a brow and then pushed at Sora from his current seat. "Pervert," he scoffed, shaking his head incredulously. His silver bangs fell in front of his sea green eyes, concealing the amusement that was drenched in them.

"Well, when you go around saying stuff like that it's hard _not_ to take it in the wrong way," Sora argued, huffing. He crossed his arms to his chest and fixed his gaze on his best friend. "But fine, I'll get a chair from the other room. I'll be right back."

Riku chuckled and watched as the brunet left the room. He sighed to himself and looked back to the computer. With boredom, Riku began logging onto the internet, resting his chin into the palm of his hands. He knew all of Sora's passwords—why the brunet told him, Riku would never know. In return, Sora knew Riku's as well. Thankfully there were no secrets between the two. If there were…well, then they would be entirely screwed.

Sora returned a few moments later, heaving a wooden chair into the room. Riku lifted his gaze off the computer screen and over to his friend. "Come on, Sora. Be a man. It's just a chair," he teased, a smirk appearing.

"You're one to talk, girly man," Sora mumbled back as he dragged the chair over to his desk. He placed it beside Riku and promptly sat down, his chest inflating and deflating quickly. Sora was by no means an athletic person.

"Girly man?" Riku echoed, sneaking a glance over at Sora through hooded eyes. "What's with the insults today, So-ra?"

"They're not insults, they're the truth," the brunet countered, a goofy smile on his face. He arched a brow challengingly, his gaze never leaving Riku.

"Those are fighting words," Riku made know, clicking the computer mouse idly. Hell, he didn't even know what he was clicking. It was just something to keep his fingers preoccupied with.

"So, what are you doing?" Sora wondered, leaning forward in the uncomfortable chair. His blue eyes scanned the screen in attempts to discover what Riku was doing. "Livejournal? You actually have one of those?"

"Yeah, so?" Riku questioned, glancing over at Sora. "It's something to do," he explained casually with a shrug.

"Can I read what you have?" Sora asked curiously, peeking over Riku's shoulder. He quickly read what Riku had written so far—nothing of all that importance, just nonsensical ramblings. The brunet sighed and settled back down in his chair. Riku wasn't that exciting of a person. He was like an open book—Sora doubted he even _had_ any secrets, and if he did, he surely would have told his best friend. So basically, sneaking a glance at Riku's online 'diary' was pointless.

"You've been reading it for two minutes now," Riku noted, glancing back at Sora. His thin lips curled up into a snicker as he closed the window, deleting the blog he had halfway composed. "It wasn't important, anyhow," he said quietly, turning his gaze off the computer screen and to his best friend.

"So, what are we doing now?" Sora wondered, glancing at the blank screen. No windows, no internet browsers, nada, nothing.

"Don't know," Riku answered with a shrug, hand resting on the mouse. His fingers began strumming it gingerly. "Anything is fine with me."

"Well, we can watch a movie," Sora suggested as he got up from the chair. The brunet lazily stretched his arms above his head and stared dejectedly at the chair. "Oh man, I got this thing for nothing."

"Sucks for you," Riku taunted. "If we're going to get a movie, why not get some snacks from downstairs. Do you guys have anything good?"

"We have chips?" Sora answered, his hands resting on the back of the chair. His blue eyes remained on Riku, inspecting him silently. "Sour cream and onion and plain, I think. I can double check when I'm down there."

"Any kind is fine," Riku said as he shut down the computer. His chin came to rest on his palm. "What movie do you want to watch? I can get it ready while you're getting the snacks."

"Uh…just look at the HBO channels. I'm sure something good is on," Sora responded as he trekked across his room. Once at his door, he rested his tanned hand on the doorknob and glimpsed back over his shoulder at Riku. His mouth opened, as if to say something, but instead slid shut. With a quick shake of his head, and nonsensical murmur, the brunet left his bedroom.

It was around five minutes later that a clambering noise was heard. And it was a moment after that when Sora returned to the bedroom.

"What _is_ this anyhow?" Sora questioned as he dragged the bag of chips into the room. In his right hand was the large, unopened bag, and in his left was a bottle of soda and two cups, carefully placed over the top of the soda bottle. Of course, Sora was an ungraceful person, but he amazingly managed to bring all the items up to the bedroom without spilling anything. It was a miracle, truly.

"What's what?" Riku wondered. The silveret was sprawled across Sora's bed, on his stomach. His legs bent at the knees, allowing his legs to teeter back and forth in the air. His elbows dug into the soft bed as he watched the movie with subtle interest.

"The movie," Sora explained as he plopped the bag of chips onto the bed beside Riku. With a pout, the brunet poked Riku in the side. "Move over some, fatso."

"Fatso?" Riku echoed, now stubbornly remaining where he was. "You're calling me _fat_?" he asked incredulously, his gaze meeting Sora's at once.

"Yeah, that's what I said. You're taking up the entire bed," the brunet complained. With a grunt, he attempted to shove Riku's body over some. It worked to no avail. His eyebrows knitted together in frustration. Carefully, Sora placed the liter of soda and empty glasses on his nightstand before returning to his perilous task of trying to move Riku.

"Take it back and I might move," Riku stated as he watched Sora with concentration. His lips curled into a crafty smile as he refused to give Sora any room on the bed.

"Never," Sora stated. His blue eyes glimmered with defiance as his hands came to rest on his skinny, but curvy, hips. His bottom lip stuck out, causing him to look more like a girl than anything. "Now, move, Riku. It's _my_ bed. I want to lay down on it too." Huff.

Riku smirked. "You want on the bed, huh?" he wondered, a silver eyebrow arching.

"Yeah, I do," Sora agreed, his fingers tapping idly on his hips. The stubborn look disappeared when he noticed the smirk sprawled across his friend's face. "What's…with the look?" he asked uneasily, gulping slightly. Usually when Riku had _that_ look, he was up to something. Not a small something, but a _big_ something.

"Well, your wish if my command, Sora," Riku drawled. Without warning, the muscular teen sat up, just slightly, and stuck out his right arm. Dexterously, his arm hooked with Sora's and in result tugged the brunet towards him. With another tug administrated from Riku, Sora fumbled forward, lost balance, as predicted, and landed on his friend.

"Ow!" Sora groaned as his limbs lay spread out on top of the chuckling teenager. "Riku! You jerk! I didn't mean lay on _you_ on the bed!"

Riku continued laughing. He was then currently lying on his back with Sora on top of him. His head rested back against the bed as laughs continued to filter from his thin lips. "The look on your face," he snorted in amusement, his face growing red from the lack of air. "It was _priceless_, Sora."

"Jerk!" Sora shouted again, flailing a bit. When he found that all his thrashing was in vain, he remained motionless on Riku. In fact, Riku was quite comfortable…

Riku's arms rested comfortably around Sora's waist, holding the skinner teen on him. The silveret breathed in regularly, his chest rising and falling against Sora's every few moments. His usually bright eyes were now shut, giving him a rather pensive appearance. "You done squabbling?"

"No," Sora huffed under his breath. With a defeated sigh, the brunet rested his chin on Riku's chest and watched him. He looked so at peace.

"You're lighter than I thought you would be," Riku noted, eyes remaining shut. His thin, black lashes graced his pale cheeks, providing a sinfully beautiful contrast.

"Well duh, I'm not the fatso," Sora answered. He immaturely stuck his tongue out, regardless of the fact that Riku could not see. When Sora realized that Riku wasn't arguing, he fell silent. Uncertain of what else to do, he tapped his fingers against Riku's chest. He was trapped. He had no way of getting up.

"I'm glad you're going to Rome with me, Sora," Riku murmured as his hand subconsciously began brushing along the boy's back. "I'd be so bored if I just went with my mom," he admitted with a chuckle.

Sora wasn't paying attention to Riku's words—he was paying attention to the warm, comforting hands on his back.

"No problem," the brunet whispered, allowing his own eyes to drift shut. "You're awfully calm," he added in a murmur after a moment. He wasn't complaining, though.

"So?" Riku replied indignantly, his voice edgy but yet tranquil. "I'm just tired. Today was a … strenuous day, Sora."

Sora winced. He had to agree. "Y-yeah," he practically stammered. He held his eyes closed, refusing to open them even for a moment. He had been trying his best to block the thoughts from his mind—and he had been succeeding—until Riku randomly brought those _thoughts_ up again.

It took Riku a moment to respond. "Oh…Sora, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Sora muttered, gulping down a lump of nerves. "I mean, it's pointless to avoid the subject." He didn't feel all that comfortable anymore.

"No, really, I'm sorry. I was an ass and didn't realize what I was saying," Riku murmured. The silveret opened his eyes and frowned at the brunet. Sora was currently hiding his face against Riku's chest. All Riku could see were brown spikes sticking out haphazardly.

"It's fine," Sora reiterated, emphasizing his words. The teen kept his eyes closed and his face buried against Riku's chest. He didn't want to be seen in such a distraught state. It sickened him and he concluded that Riku probably like it either—he probably thought it was revolting.

"All right," Riku sighed. His arms fled from around Sora and rested idly against the bed beneath them. "I'm going to get my sleeping bag ready," he stated.

Sora nodded and finally slid off his friend. He squirmed around a bit on the bed and ended up off it, standing up. "…You can have the bed tonight," he offered, his arms folding across his skinny chest. "I'll take your sleeping bag."

"But—" Riku began, sitting up as well. He arched a brow at Sora. A look of hurt fluttered about in his viridian eyes.

"It's fine," Sora hummed. The brunet quietly marched around the bed and tackled Riku's sleeping bag. It took less than a minute for him to untangle it and sprawl it across the floor. "You're the guest, after all." He shot his friend a forced, weary smile.

"Right…" mumbled Riku. He averted his gaze and laid back down, his stomach touching the bed once more. He mentally sighed, feeling shitty and worthless. He hadn't meant to bring up Sora's chronic disease. That was the _last_ thing he had wanted to do.

Riku was so lost in his thoughts of regret that he didn't even realize that Sora had fallen asleep five minutes after he got off the bed. When the light snoring reached the silveret's ears, he peered over the edge of the bed. Sora's cute face was resting against a pillow, looking like the angel he was. His lips were shaped in a small smile, even in sleep. The silveret sighed, watching his friend with an attentive look.

"I'm sorry," Riku murmured, his hand dropping off the bed. He leaned off the bed slightly and ruffled Sora's hair. The boy made a gurgle in his sleep. Riku chuckled and removed his hand and went back to quietly observing his friend. "You don't deserve any of this, Sora," he whispered, a sad smile on his face. "But…if this is fate, then I'm going to make these next few weeks the best of your life, promise."

And he would never say the words out loud, but… "Without you, I'd probably die, Sora."

The chips and soda went forgotten and unnoticed for the remainder of the night.

**xxxxxxxx**

"Sora…take deep breaths."

Sora sucked in a shaky breath and gripped the armrest tighter. His eyes widened triple their normal size and a violent shake danced down his spine. His toes curled and he gasped, his mind temporarily forgetting how to breathe. He took a long, deep breath through his nose and felt the nerves begin to eat away at his stomach again. Could this possibly get any worse?

"Sora," Riku repeated, looking to his friend with worry. "The plane's perfectly safe, I promise." He offered a smile and nudged Sora in the shoulder. "You have a seatbelt on, you won't fall out, promise." He sighed and then added on, "I've been on planes millions of times before. You won't die."

"B-but," Sora stuttered, his nails digging into the armrest that separated the two plane seats. "B-but what if the engine explodes?" he slurred, his breath hitching. He gulped, resisting the urge to shake more than he already was.

It was only natural that someone with a fear of heights would have a fear of planes. Riku opened his mouth to respond coolly but was interrupted by someone from a few rows away.

"Shut up!" barked whoever it was. "People are trying to _sleep_ here. Inconsiderate pricks…"

Riku glared, stretching his neck to see who had spoken. "Mind your own business, asshole," he called back, seething as he wrenched his gaze away from the other passengers. Wearily, he turned back to Sora who was as pale as a ghost. "So…"

"You know, I thought the hardest part would have been to get my mom to say yes to this. I had no idea that _this_ would be the hardest," the brunet murmured, his fingers shaking immensely. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment.

"Go to sleep," Riku urged, placing his chin carefully on Sora's shoulder. "When we take off, there might be some turbulence before we level out in the sky…it's best not to go to sleep during that part. You may wake up, but you won't consciously have to deal with it."

"Turbulence?" Sora repeated. He gulped, trying to hide the action by coughing.

"…It's nothing too big," Riku chuckled, offering a smile. "Come on, it won't be so bad."

"Sora, Riku, are you boys doing all right?" Riku's mother cut their conversation short. She was returning from the bathroom, headed towards the vacant seat behind them.

Riku quickly moved back from Sora's shoulder, staring idly at the floor. A look of guilt spread across his face as his mother ambled down the aisle towards her seat.

"We're fine, Ms. Karada," Sora answered at once. He offered the cheery woman a smile as she passed and took a seat behind them. The brunet then proceeded to nervously look to his best friend who seemed out of it. Sora said nothing and closed his eyes.

_I'm sorry, mom, for not telling you. I should have, I really should have_. He figured that continuing to regret a choice already made would be unwise. Besides, this was supposed to be a _vacation_, not a time to grieve and complain. The brunet viciously bit his bottom lip and silently promised himself that he wouldn't think about the disease anymore during this trip. It was the least he could do.

"Think the airplane food is any good?" Sora murmured after a moment. He had calmed down considerably and now was blushing. He had acted childishly, hadn't he?

"God no," Riku groaned, shaking his head. "It's dreadful, Sora."

The brunet chuckled a bit and flexed his wrist, grimacing at how wet his palms were. "I doubt it'd be wise to eat on a plane," he laughed under his breath, stopping to think.

"Yeah. Especially if you're you," Riku taunted, a smirk appearing on his lips. Emerald eyes twinkled over at Sora as he reclined in the airplane seat, looking a considerable amount more relaxed than moments prior.

Sora rolled his eyes, grumbling something. "Yeah, well, whatever." He huffed feigningly, folded his arms to his chest, and looked out the window.

Clouds danced by, causing Sora to stare for longer than he had anticipated. A pause. "I just realized something," the brunet murmured as he gulped, this time gripping the armrest for support.

"What's that?" Riku questioned, straining his head to glance at his friend's expression.

"I can't speak Italian…"

Riku paused. "Well damn…" another pause. "Neither can I…"

**xxxxxxxx**

Sora bounded gleefully out of the terminal, through the airport, and then finally into the streets near Rome. He inhaled the beautiful air and placed his suitcase on the ground as he waited for Riku and his mother to leave the building. The brunet stomped his feet a few times, readjusting to the feel of solid ground. So wonderful.

Riku and his mother exited the building a few moments later, luggage in tow. The silveret glanced curiously at Sora, a smirk still present on his lips. He said nothing, though, just stared furtively at his best friend. Sora cocked a brow at this, parting his lips to question the gesture, but silenced himself when Riku's mom trotted between them and yanked out a map from her suitcase.

"Okay boys," she began, unfolding the map with difficulties. "We're headed to the hotel first. It's…about two miles from her." She buried her face in the map, inspecting it with precision of an investigator.

"Er…" Riku eyed his mom and rested his things against the wall that Sora was leaning upon. He circled his mother and stood beside his best friend instead, as earlier intended. "She doesn't get out much," he joked in a murmur.

"I heard that," his mother grunted as she traced a finger along what appeared to be a main road. She scrunched up her nose, scratched her head thoughtfully, and then pocketed the map. "All right. Let's flag down a taxi and head to that hotel!"

"You had to look at the map to decide that?" Riku asked in astonishment, staring at his mother with a bewildered look. His sharp green eyes met her hazel and he instantly shut up.

"Riku, be nice," Sora cooed, stifling a giggle as his mother continued sending her son death glares that probably could be seen from China.

"Yeah. Considering I _am_ the one with the plane tickets back," she stated slowly, collecting her things once again. She gave her son a beautiful smirk and began tugging the suitcases towards the sidewalk,.

"We wouldn't mind if you left us here. Right, Sora?" Riku draped an arm around his friend's shoulders. His brows waggled and he leaned against his friend for support. His eyes glimmered brilliantly.

"Uhm…" Sora shrugged. "It's pretty here but I like back home," the brunet boy laughed, shrugging off Riku's arm. He quickly made his way over to the sidewalk as well, ignorning Riku's stare and a few other people who had stopped to observe them. He eventually trudged over to Riku's mom and waited patiently with her for a taxi.

Riku sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "He wouldn't want to stay here forever with me?..." Sigh. "Figures."


	3. stories to heartbreak

sorry it took so long. one week of school left and i'm free!! well, for the summer. which means i can finish all my stories i have going!  
this chapter was fun.  
and i think i've accomplished a very interesting riku and sora...  
i'm going to have so much fun with this...  
review, please?  
(and by the way, for the people who haven't caught on, sora's test results weren't true. he doesn't have cancer. at all. the end.)

**Incurable**

The hotel suite was far more than Sora was expecting. He had been expecting two rooms connected by a simplistic bathroom; nothing extravagant nor fancy. What the brunet got was three rooms and a bathroom, each lavishly decorated with a phone in each, a fridge, and any other necessity that one would need to survive. The suite was truly something out of a fairytale or dream. Sora's jaw instantly dropped, his grip on his bags temporarily losing. The brown containers fell to the floor and nearly s napped open and spilled their contents. However, the small makeshift lock on each prevented such an act from happening. Still, the dropping of the hard bags produced a notable thud against the tiled hallway entrance.

"Wholy…shit," the brunet teenager whispered under his breath. Blue eyes widened to triple their size as he slowly took in everything—the paintings, the crown molding, and especially the breathtaking view of the city from the small sitting room at the end of the hall.

"Close your mouth, flies are going to buzz in," Riku murmured as he pushed past his best friend and headed down the hallway after his perky mother.

Sora snapped out of his reveries and watched Riku and the boy's mother trot down to the two doors on either end of the hallway. Ms. Karada disappeared into the left room—presumably the bedroom—and Riku to the right. Sora scrunched his nose up and watched the two Karadas disperse. The brunet remained in the hallway, recollecting his objects from the door. He dragged them down to the doors and nudged the right one open, following after his best friend. He figured he would be boarding with Riku. That was the most reasonable conclusion Sora came to in that moment.

When Sora finally wiggled his way into the massive, brightly lit room, Riku was standing near the bed with a stunned, pale look. The silveret was just _standing_ there, saying nothing and _doing_ nothing. Shouldn't he be unpacking and taking advantage of the television and mini fridge and everything else?!

"Riku, what's wrong?" the brunet questioned as he closed the door, dropping his suitcases by the door. He paused and looked over to the bed.

See, that was the very problem. It was _the bed_. There was no 'the _beds_', just 'the _bed_'. Sora blinked a few times and sauntered over, leaving his belongings where they laid. The blue-eyed teen inspected the king-sized bed for a few moments before laughing apprehensively. Now he understood why Riku had just been staring at the bed with disbelief and skepticism.

"One bed, huh…" Sora drawled as his arms came to rest across his chest.

"Yup…" Riku trailed off and gingerly ran his hand across the plush comforter. "At least it's king-size…"

"Agreed," Sora mused quietly and looked to his friend with a weary look. "It's King-size. It won't be awkward, I promise. We've shared beds before, right? No big deal, right?"

"Of course not," Riku agreed in a grumble, scratching the nape of his neck. His silver bangs concealed his puzzled and rather troubled aquamarine hues. "It's just the fact that there are only two beds in this suite that bothers me. I guess Mom never called in the correction to the reservations…"

"Oh, right!" Sora exclaimed and nodded vigorously. "Your mom reserved the suite before I said I could go, right?" Riku nodded simply and touched the single bed again. "I get it…Well, no big deal, right?"

"Right," Riku mumbled once again and allowed his fingertips to trace a few incoherent shapes onto the comforter. His lips pressed into a thin line. "I snore, you know. You might end up kicking me out of the room tonight."

Sora snorted in amusement. "We always sleep in the same room, you idiot. We did the other night. I didn't mind your slight snoring."

"You say that now," Riku chuckled and finally sat down on the bed. The teen leaned his chin into the valley his two cupped hands made. "Here, sit and talk with me for a bit. Mom said we won't be leaving for dinner for another hour so we have some free time to bullshit."

Sora smiled warmly at Riku's smirk. "I'd love—" he began but then paused. "Crap! I was supposed to call my mom the moment we got out of the airport!" he squeaked and lunged away from the bed. The brunet scrambled over to his bags and began digging through them, tanned hands fumbling to find his cell phone . Once done, he quickly dialed his mother's number and waited. And waited.

"…What's the are code for the United States?" the brunet questioned uneasily. He peered over at the bureau beside the bed. "Riku, there should be a phonebook in there. Can you pass it here?"

"Sure thing," Riku said and did as he was instructed. After a moment the silveret wandered over and handed Sora a rather large, yellow phonebook.

"Thanks," Sora cooed and smiled up at his friend.

Riku mirrored the smile and went back over to the bed. As Sora messed with his phone, the silveret dragged his bags onto the bed to begin unpacking. His hands carefully undid the zippers and belts and whatnot of the suitcases until the first one slipped open. The older teen idly flipped through a few shirts, toothbrushes, pants, and so on until he paused at a single letter. He bit his bottom lip and lifted the paper from suitcase, passing a conscious glance over to his spiky-haired friend. Good, he was still messing with his phone. Riku leaned back against the wooden headboard and inspected the letter.

_Dear Sora,_

_I know I'm a coward for telling you all of this in a letter, but I believe that I'm madly in love with you. I've never felt this strongly about a person before. I can't look away when we get locked in a stare. I can't breathe when you laugh and smile at me. I can't imagine a world without you. I've never been eloquent with words or romantic but you make me different. Sora, I love you so much and I just wanted you to know. I know that nothing will ever happen between us but I just needed to get this off my chest. I wish you luck with Kairi or any other girl you get involved with. Just know that I'm always for you._

_I just can't fall out of love with you, Sora…I'm sorry._

_Riku_

Riku sighed and folded the letter back up. That was from a few months ago when Sora was crushing on some girl named Kairi. The silveret had decided to write up a letter explaining how he felt but he never got around to delivering it. He sighed yet again, almost regretting never having passed the letter to another pair of hands. Nostalgic sea green eyes stared down at the folded letter before shoving it back into his things. That letter, he decided, would never see the light of day again.

Riku had his reasons. The silveret had bluntly hit on Sora thousands of times prior to the trip. Nothing ever seemed to work. And that comment earlier regarding not staying here forever with him? Well, that hurt. However, as Riku sat there, a cold chill ran down his spine. What if Sora really did have cancer? What if he died and Riku never got to tell him?

Riku sat there indecisively for a few more moments before Sora's rambling broke him from his trance.

"I hate international phone calls!" the brunet moaned as he began repeatedly bashing his head against his palm.

"Why's that?" Riku slipped off the bed, once the letter was safely hidden, and sauntered over. The silveret casually leaned down and peered at Sora's cell phone. "Can't get through to her?"

"Oh, I did," Sora clarified and lowered his hand from his head. He chuckled uneasily. "But look at the popup on my cell phone. Just take a look. I have a prepaid cell phone so it automatically tells me how much my calls are."

Riku took Sora's blue phone from him and clicked the green button. And there was a popup on the screen indeed. The silveret read it over then snorted in amusement. "Fifteen bucks. Nice, Sora. For a two minute phone call. That's epic."

Sora greedily snatched his phone back and stuck his tongue out, blue eyes shimmering childishly. "It is _not_ epic. It's ridiculous and I'm going to tell my mom that the next time I call her!"

"You do that," Riku cooed and rolled his eyes. The teen wandered back over to the bed and sat back down. He lazily crossed his legs and began removing all his clothes. He placed the shirts in one pile, the boxers in another…

"You have flame boxers?"

Sora was peering over his shoulder, staring at the things Riku unpacked. The silveret stiffened. He didn't like having his best friend standing behind him, looking over his shoulder. "I do," he murmured and held his hand cautiously over the flame-adorned undergarment. "Is that a problem?"

"It's cool," Sora elucidated with a brilliant smile that was invisible to Riku. "I had a pair like that a few years ago until our dog got to them. The poor things…"

"Why are we talking about boxers?" Riku asked after a moment of awkward silence. He began unpacking once again, biting his bottom lip all the while.

"Because we're guys but more specifically best friends. It's not like we're standing here staring at each other naked or something random like that," the brunet giggled and ran a hand through his untamable brown spikes of hair. Sora's smile always seemed to illuminate a room.

"…Just no," Riku stated and shook his head. "Don't ever say that again."

Sora scrunched his nose up and tilted his head in confusion. "What? Us naked in the same room?"

"Yes, that," Riku murmured and placed a grey shirt on top of the shirt pile. "It's odd and just something you don't say out loud."

Well damn, he just messed up that one!

"Outloud?" Sora repeated and licked his lips negligently. "So they're all right to think but not say? That's kind of really creepy. I don't get it."

"I didn't mean it like that." Riku's hand greeted his forehead in a reunion that would make any person jealous. A groan leaked from the silveret's lips as he breathed in deeply. "What I meant to say was that those random thoughts are meant to stay inside your head, Sora. Not to dwell on, but just to keep to yourself. I didn't mean it in the perverted way," he clarified.

"Oh! Well, I'm dumb!" Sora reasoned and laughed embarrassedly. The brunet quickly sat down next to his best friend and smiled softly. "Sorry. I know I'm being weird. I just…I don't know. Being in another country is just making me feel weird I suppose."

_Or it's your fear of dying that's speaking_, Riku thought lamely. His agile fingers toyed with the collar of a shirt as he absorbed Sora's words. "Yes, that must be it."

"So, do you like Rome so far?" the brunet asked, intently watching his friend unpack, having no desire to do the same.

"It's nice," Riku commented simplistically and closed his eyes. "It's everything I expected. So far, I mean. I can't wait to see the Trevi Fountain, though. That's the first thing I want to go visit."

"We can take a picture together there!" Sora exclaimed happily and continued smiling radiantly at Riku. "And then after the trip we can make a scrapbook of all our pictures! And we can make a copy of it so each of us can have a copy!"

"Sora…you're way too perky," Riku said and looked over at the brunet. He smiled nonchalantly and nudged his friend in the shoulder. "But I like you that way."

"You better," Sora hummed and scrunched his nose up playfully. His blue eyes averted themselves from Riku's green and wandered over to the electrical socket that was visible from the bed. "It's one of those crazy ones I've heard about…"

"What is?" Riku questioned as he placed a pair of pants down.

"Those sockets," Sora explained and stared at it inquisitively.

"Oh. Then don't touch it."

"I wasn't going to!" Sora huffed and bit his bottom lip. "I'm not going to stupidly go over there, shove a plug in, and then watched in amusement as the whole building goes up in flames," though he did not have an ephemeral thought of plugging in his iPod to charge. Of course, that planned backfired due to his rant. He didn't want the hotel to burn down!

"Sure, Sora, sure," Riku hummed and rolled his eyes on cue.

"Why must you be so mean to me?!" Sora mocked anger and dramatically fell off the bed, holding his hand to his heart. When he did fall to the floor, he ruptured into a fit of laughter. His cheeks stained red and his body trembled with amusement.

"You're crazy," Riku concluded as he peered over the side of the bed, down at Sora. "Crazy and clumsy."

"I did that on purpose," Sora reasoned and smiled up at Riku. His brown bangs fell elegantly down onto his youthful face.

Riku swallowed hard. It was as if he was staring down at Sora, beneath him… He shook away that thought quickly, as he had done with the letter. "On second thought, why don't you go over and try those sockets out? You might make a new friend with Mr. Fire."

"Jerk," Sora laughed and stuck his tongue out, refusing to get up off the comfortable floor. Even the floor smelt nice for heaven's sake!

"If you stick that tongue out long enough I'm going to bite it off," Riku murmured amusedly as he returned to unpacking. He wanted to get half of his things organized in the hotel room before dinner. Then again, he was sharing a room with _Sora_. Why did he think that he would ever be able to focus on anything _other_ than the brunet?

"I dare you," Sora said with a soft chuckle.

"Don't tempt me, crazyboy," the silveret retorted.

Sora smiled cheerfully and finally stopped laughing. He took in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. His tongue swiped out and danced along his lips, wetting them slightly. The room was something royalty would have. Or a five-star hotel back in America. The material that lined the floor and furniture appeared to be silks of blues and tans and light purples. Everything about the room was marvelous and Sora found it quite hard to sit there and not look around.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Hm?" Riku paused and looked down at Sora.

"Thanks for bringing me here," he stated in a soft, pleased whisper. He offered his best friend a gleaming smile before allowing his eyes to slip shut. "You have no idea how thankful I am."

"It's no problem, I'm glad you came with me," Riku answered. He watched Sora drift into a small slumber. The silveret sighed and closed his eyes. The room was rather soporific. After a moment of sitting there with his eyes tightly shut, Riku added on to his prior statement.

"You have no idea how hard it is for me to be here with you, knowing you may die in a few months…knowing that I'm too much of a coward to do anything. Even when you're going to be in the same bed as me… But fate's just a cruel bastard like that."

**xxxxxxxx**

"Wake up, sleepyhead! Your mom is ready to go and she's about to leave us here if you don't get your butt up now!"

Riku's eyes fluttered open. Light danced freely into his eyes, causing the teen to flinch and shut them again. Slumbering during the afternoon always caused him to awake with stinging eyes. With a groan, Riku pushed his body up in to a sitting position. His clenched fists rose to his face and began viciously rubbing at his closed eyes. The time change that they encountered during the flight had completely messed with his sleeping habits. It was horrible. It felt like night but it wasn't. It was only five in the afternoon. The hell.

"Sora?"

Riku realized that it had been Sora that awoke him. The silveret yawned and inspected the youth standing a few inches away from him. The close proximity reminded Riku of the dream he had been having moments prior to his awakening. He had been slowly stripping Sora of every single piece of clothing, instead dressing him with kisses and touches and caresses. And good god, Sora had moaned so angelically that it was hard not to become aroused.

"You okay?" Sora questioned with a tilt of his head.

"Yeah. Just feel shitty from napping," the silveret mumbled and shrugged. _That and I'm horribly turned on. Just be glad I don't have wood as well. That'd be quite embarrassing. _"Now let me get off this bed and comb my hair before my mom flips out even more."

"Hah, okay," Sora answered and slipped off the bed. He bounded over to the door to the bedroom and lingered by it. "Hey, after dinner, wanna go see that fountain you were telling me about? Your mom said we can wander around the city whenever we want just as long as we don't get lost."

Riku paused. "I'd love to," he stated and shoved his body off the bed. His eyes landed on Sora briefly. "Thanks for asking."

"No problem!" Sora chimed and sent his best friend a warm look. "Now get ready! I'm starved!"

Riku chuckled and watched in utter amusement as the skinny brunet left the room, closing the door behind him. The silveret yawned and slipped a dexterous hand through his hair. His fingers caught on a few small knots that easily came undone with the force of his pale digits. The teen brushed his hair with his fingers for a few more moments before reaching for a real comb to finish the process. Tonight was going to be a long night, he decided. Not only had he woken up to Sora's beautiful face, but he had been dreaming about stripping Sora completely. He gulped. He needed to keep his hormones in check these few weeks.

"I'm basically screwed," he decided and set the comb down. Oh well.

**xxxxxxxx**

"So, what do you boys have planned for the next two weeks?"

Sora was busy consuming a rather large plate of spaghetti while Riku sat beside him, idly poking his chicken parma. He wasn't really in the mood for food, he realized. Things were just so messed up lately and nothing made any sense. His best friend might be dying and it was becoming increasingly harder to withhold his feelings. He vowed that he would tell the cheery brunet before they returned home, so now the silveret was left with a growing worry in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn't make the entire trip awkward, he decided, he'd tell Sora on the last night. That way, if Sora felt discomfited around him, it wouldn't hurt as badly.

"Boys?"

Riku peered up from his meal and noticed that his mother was staring at them worriedly. His gaze drifted between Sora and his mother. "What'd you ask?" the silveret questioned as he set his fork down.

"I asked," she began, fixing her napkin in her lap, "what you two have planned."

"Oh," Riku shoved in an impromptu chuckle, "nothing really. Whatever seems like a good idea?"

"The Forum Romanum sounds wonderful," Riku's mother cooed as she leaned her chin into her hands. "Your father and I went once in our early years together. It's so romantic and breath-taking. You boys _must_ go there."

Riku blinked. Why did his mom suggest they go somewhere _romantic_? "Sondr-" he began but winced when his mother stared harshly at him. "Mom," he corrected quickly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't think we're all that interested in romantic places."

Sora decided to pipe in at that point. "I'd love to go!" he exclaimed after having swallowed a large mouthful of food.

"See. Sora wants to go. Why don't you be polite and take him one night?" Sondra suggested as she batted her eyelashes at her son. She laughed absentmindedly to herself and took a sip of her wine, as if she knew more than she was letting on to.

"If you don't want to, I don't have to," Sora began hesitantly, noticing the uncertainty flashing in his best friend's eyes. "I just—"

And Riku realized that he wasn't being fair. This might be Sora's only chance to ever see Rome, if he truly did have that bad of a case of cancer. The silveret winced and slumped back in his chair, pondering. He might as well make the forum the second to last stop on the last night…before the Trevi Fountain where he confessed to Sora. That sounded wonderful. "I'll take you," he huffed in the end.

"Really?! Thanks!" Sora exclaimed joyfully. Sondra laughed good-naturedly and continued eating. "Riku, are we still going to the Trevi Fountain tonight?" the brunet questioned after a moment of silence.

Well, there went _his_ romantic plan. He had promised that they would go tonight. "Of course, Sora," the silveret answered simply. He'd think of another romantic place to confess. He was sure he could think of something just as good.

"Awesome," the brunet cooed and closed his eyes in relaxation. "God, I love this food."

"It is marvelous," Sondra agreed and smiled vibrantly at her son's best friend. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Sora. It's always a pleasure having you with us. Riku's always so much more polite and affectionate when you're around."

Riku, who was sipping a glass of water, nearly spewed the contents out onto the table and the pair. He set down the class, covered his mouth with his curled up hand, and coughed. Sondra arched a brow with a small smirk and Sora just sat there in worry, randomly interjecting customary questions. Are you okay? What's wrong? Are you choking?

"I'm…fine," Riku coughed at last. He swallowed down his own spit and shot his mother a stare. She knew.

"Riku, come with me and pick out a dessert for the three of us," his mother urged as she arose from the seat. "Let's surprise Sora." She smiled over at the brunet.

Riku nodded and arose, gently placing his napkin onto the table. He shot his best friend a weary smile before following his mother through the crowded restaurant. She wasn't leading him over to the desserts at all. In fact, she was leading him to the entry of the restaurant where it was a thousand times quieter. Once there, the red-dress clad woman spun around and surveyed her son. She said nothing for a long moment and just stared. And once she was done staring…

"Taranda and I know," she elucidated, brows furrowing.

"Know what?" What did Sora and his mothers know?

"About you and Sora," she stated slowly, hands coming to rest on her red hips. "Either you boys are dating or there's something else going on that you are not telling either of us."

Riku's cheeks turned a scorching red. He widened his eyes at his mother's bluntness. "Why would you say that? It's not like we kiss or anything!"

"So you don't deny that there's something," Sondra sighed and lifted her hand to her head. She rubbed her temples and took in a deep breath. "Riku, please tell me. I'm your mother. I want to know about your life. I've never once condemned you for your interests, only your mistakes. And if dating Sora is what you chose, I will not hold it as a mistake."

Riku bit his lip. "Mom…" He lowered his gaze, heart beating erratically as his hands clenched by his sides. "We're not dating."

"Then what?"

"I like him, mom, a lot," he informed quietly under his breath. "I have for years now. He's never showed any signs of requited love so I just haven't done anything. If that is what you and Ms. Kayaki are seeing, then you're correct. I do feel more than friendship for Sora."

"Do you know if he's.." she began, eyes filled with worry and fear.

"Into swinging the other way? No, mom, I don't know. If I was, I'm sure he would have told me. He tells me everything," the silveret explained and hunched his shoulders. "But it's fine. I'm content with just being his best friend. We talk. We hangout."

"But you want more," Sondra sighed and gestured for Riku to sit down in a chair with her. "Riku, you're nearly an adult now. You've only had one girlfriend and I'm positive you two didn't make it past second base. I know you need some sort of physical relation in your life."

"I can deal without being allowed to kiss him, if that's what you mean," Riku answered sharply. _Liar. You can't go a day without wanting to kiss those perfect lips._

"Tell him," Sondra urged, messing with her pinned up hair.

"Can't. Don't want to ruin a friendship."

Sondra's hand dropped from her hair. "That was cliché. You and Sora are best friends. A crush isn't going to ruin anything. Sure, if he doesn't feel the same it may make things awkward, but it won't ruin things. Why, my best friend in high school had a crush on me, and she was a female. Of course I didn't return the feelings, but we stayed best friends."

"Did you have any more sleepovers? Was she allowed to hug you like Sora and I do?"

Sondra bit her lip. "Not as many, no…"

"Exactly, mom. I don't want to jeopardize what I have with Sora. I don't want him to know…" _But yet I do_. "But if you think it's for the best, I'll tell him by the end of this vacation. Just give me these two weeks to figure out something."

"Honey, I don't want you to be pressured into…" Sondra warned with a worried look.

"You're not pressuring me," Riku reassured and smiled warmly at his mother. "I just need to work a few things out before I got confessing my yearning for him."

Sondra sighed. "Tell me what day you're going to tell him."

"Why's that?" Did it matter?

"So I can buy you boys some condoms."

Riku's jaw dropped and hit the floor. Was his mother _allowed_ to say such things? "Mom! We're!...and he! And even if he _does_, we don't do … _that_," he rambled, face a hot red.

"Once again, you're almost an adult. Sex isn't that taboo anymore."

"But!...we're both guys so I don't really see how a condom is going to do any good," he reasoned under his breath, cheeks the color of a ripe tomato.

"Is he a virgin?"

"Well…yes. I don't think he fooled around with Kairi any," Riku mused and scratched his head. "And even if he did, I doubt Kairi did anything with anyone and…"

"See? You're starting to see the web of STDs," Sondra chuckled and ruffled Riku's neat hair. "Riku, if you both share feelings, talk to him about these things. Condoms are nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, it won't seem as raw, but it'll be as passionate. Just open your mouth and communicate. I know you can use it for that."

_Not if it's busy doing other things…_ He shifted uncomfortably. Now was not the best time to imagine going down on Sora. "Let's just get back to dinner before Sora thinks we ditched him."

Sondra nodded and stood up. She placed her hand on Riku's shoulder. She was about to say something else but decided at the last minute to keep it to herself. It was best if Riku found it out himself. After all, this was Riku's life and battle.

Regardless, mother and son returned to the table after a few moments. Sora, who had finally finished his meal, looked expectantly at them. He cocked his head to the side. "Where's the dessert?" he wondered innocently, cleaning the corners of his mouth.

"Well, we decided what we wanted," Sondra interjected calmly and smiled over at Riku.

_More like, we've come to an understanding that I want Sora._ Riku nodded in spite of to his mother's twofaced words. "Chocolate cheesecake," the silveret added in when Sora just stared at him in anticipation.

"Oh gosh I love that stuff!" the brunet cooed happily and shot the two a gracious smile. "You two are really too good to me."

"Well, what can we say? We love you," Sondra laughed and smiled warmly at Sora and then Riku. Ah yes, now that she had been confirmed that her suspicions were correct, she was not going to let Riku live this down. The male was going to confess to Sora, one way or another.

"Ah, thanks," Sora chuckled, the smile never leaving his lips. "I love you both, too!"

And Riku groaned under his breath, shifting uneasily. If only Sora would say those words with far more passion, in a far more seductive voice, as he lay beneath_ Riku_, staring up at him with dazed eyes. If only Sora would _love_ him the way that Princes loved their Princesses.

**xxxxxxxx**

"Your mom is so nice!"

Sora walked alongside Riku as they followed the map to the fountain. The brunet clutched the small traveler's map closely as he stayed just as closely by Riku. It was a beautiful night to be wandering the city, and for that, both males were thankful. The area they were venturing to, to visit the Trevi Fountain, was a spectacular area. It was in a busy part of Rome so they doubted that they would get _too_ lost along the way. After all, with a map, it was pretty hard to remain lost for long.

"I know," Riku hummed and nonchalantly shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "Be jealous."

"Oh, I know I am," Sora laughed and childishly leaned against Riku as they walked. His side rested comfortably against his best friend's. "She seems like the type of Mom that you can tell anything and everything to," he mused as he walked on.

Riku was feeling a bit nervous from having Sora so close to him, side against his own side. "She is," he whispered, wincing somewhat. He didn't want his mother to know that he was gay, but he supposed that it would have come out eventually. All things did.

"I wish I had that relationship with my mom," Sora murmured. "I've kept so much from her…"

"Why?" Riku questioned.

"Because I'm afraid of seeing her hurt," he explained quietly and fidgeted uneasily. "When I told her freshman year that I didn't want to do softball anymore, you should have seen the disappointment clouding her eyes. She told me it was my choice and she supported me, but Riku, you didn't see the way she _looked_ at me. And I just know if I were to tell her everything about me…she'd…"

"I doubt anything you've done would disappoint her, Sora," Riku assured and ruffled his friend's hair.

Sora shifted uncomfortably. "…I never told her how far Kairi and I went."

Riku winced visibly. "How far _did_ you two go?"

Sora shrugged again. "Eh…"

"Sora?"

Sora bit his lip. "We didn't go _all_ the way, Riku. Not like, total sex but we…touched and fondled and stuff…and with clothes on and erm…"

"So you guys basically had dry sex," Riku clarified, watching his best friend in surprise. "Go on."

Sora gulped as his pace slowed. "Must I?"

"You must," Riku urged with a soft smirk.

"She was over one day when my mom was work. Mom had no idea that she was there. We started making out and stuff…she got on my lap and we continued kissing. Then she took my hand and put it on her breast, you know? I was surprised, because we rarely did that stuff, but I continued kissing her. Somehow our hands ended up in each other's pants. Riku…the way she moaned and threw her head back and stuff…" He blushed. "It really, really turned me on."

Riku sighed. Negative a million points for the Sora gay fund. "Well duh, she was _moaning_."

Sora laughed uneasily. "Yeah…well, I pushed her down onto my bed. I won't go into the exact details, but after we stopped with the hands thing…we started grinding or something. I came first and then I helped her with my hand again and oh god, you're the only person I've ever told this to," he squeaked.

Riku sighed again. "Sora, you don't have to be ashamed. You're a guy. You're not a little boy."

"I know," the brunet murmured. "But I doubt my mom would have approved."

Riku nodded understandingly. "Anything else happen that you want to get off your chest?"

"She…gave me a blowjob?" Sora suggested. His cheeks were hot as an iron.

"Ah." Riku was growing more jealous by the moment. "And how did that feel?"

"Like it should have?" Sora stated vaguely and shook his head. "Okay, now that I've divulged my dirtiest secret to you, it's your turn. What's the farthest you've gone?"

_Dream or real-life, Sora? _"I haven't been beyond kissing and outside clothes groping."

Sora paled. He felt dirty. And extremely raunchy. "Get out…"

"I'm dead serious, Sora." _I didn't do anything because I only want you. I'm only turned on by you. Is that a crime? I don't think it is_. "Anyway, what happened between you and Kairi? If you guys got that far, why didn't you go all the way? Why'd you break up."

Sora licked his lips as they continued walking. "That stuff happened a lot," he admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. "She wanted more, I said I couldn't. I didn't want to her pregnant and ruin our lives. She took offense. We didn't do anything else for a long time. Then she broke up with me when I became distant."

Riku frowned. "Wise boy," he commented after a moment, "saying no to sex. I'm proud of you."

Sora exhaled deeply. "Well, to the Fountain?"

"Of course…"

And now that he knew that his best friend had practically gone all the way with a girl, he wasn't feeling as confident as he had before. If Sora had willingly done all that with Kairi, there was no chance in hell that he was gay or bisexual. Things just never worked out that way in real-life. And Riku just had to come to grasps with that. Maybe telling Sora would be a bad idea. Maybe going to the clinic with Sora was a bad idea. Maybe he should have waited to find out when Sora told everyone else that he was dying. Maybe Riku shouldn't have broughten Sora with him to Rome.

And maybe, just maybe, Riku should have never fallen in love with Sora.


	4. the fountain and the girl

**this chapter was amusing. i wrote it five times until it was acceptable.  
you'll see why.  
Anyhow, thanks for all the reviews! hopefully you all are enjoying it so far!  
it'll start to pick up some more in the next few chapters, i promise!  
just blame riku's hormones!**

* * *

Incurable

"That's…that's…monstrous!"

Riku chuckled in amusement as his brunet friend bounded ahead of him. Brown spikes bounced arbitrarily upon his head from side to side. The skinny teenager stopped a few feet before the colossal fountain. The Trevi Fountain stood at approximately eighty-five feet or nearly twenty-six meters high. The fountain resided comfortably in the juncture between three roads. Many forms of men and woman lined the marble fountain. The circular base seemed to extend forever. Lights glimmered out from beneath the surface of the water, illuminating the figures that towered above. A soft, yellow light radiated off the fountain, drawing attention from everyone that passed by. And the building behind it, serving as a backdrop, was just as marvelous and breathtaking as the fountain itself. There were no real words to describe the gorgeous sight.

"How tall did you _think_ it was?" Riku posed as he walked over to Sora.

The brunet had somehow jostled his way through the small crowd to the rim of the fountain. The teen was down leaning against it, staring at the artwork with a stupefied expression all over his face. He was flabbergasted. "Not this…huge!"

"The Romans built in bulk," Riku chuckled as he walked up beside Sora. The silveret leaned casually against the edge of the fountain and stared in. There was a nice breeze coming off the elongated surface of the fountain along with a slight breeze from the north. "Wanna make a wish?"

Sora, who was lost in the minor details, wrenched his head off the fountain briefly. "A wish?"

"That's normally what people do at a fountain," Riku explained with a soft laugh as he dug into his coat pocket. Moments later he emerged with six coins. "There's a legend around here. If you throw three coins with your right hand, over your left shoulder, you'll have good luck. And more so, one of your three wishes will come true."

Sora blinked a few times. His gaze dropped to the shiny quarters in Riku's palm. "Does American money work?"

Riku deadpanned. "You seriously just asked me that?"

"No," Sora lied quickly. Greedily, the brunet snatched three quarters from Riku's hand and turned to the fountain. He inhaled deeply, turned so that his back was facing the magnificent water, and closed his eyes. His lips moved as he mentally made three wishes. Carefully, Sora tossed each coin over his left shoulder with his right hand, holding his eyes shut noticeably harder with each throw. Once he was done, he turned his head to Riku and allowed his eyes to flutter open.

Riku was in the process of making his own, lengthy wishes. Wish number one was obvious—he wished that Sora did not have cancer and would live for a long, long time. And in flew a coin. The second wish was on a more personal note—he wished that his mother could find a new man to wed. She was becoming increasingly lonely and Riku knew, deep down, she was yearning for another lover. And in went the second coin. The last wish took Riku longer. His hand clenched the quarter tightly, certain that the president's face would become engraved, and then tossed it over his left shoulder. He wished that he would have the courage to confess to Sora and for Sora to accept him with loving, open arms.

"Whatcha wish for?" Sora questioned as he tilted his head.

"If I told you that, my wishes wouldn't come true, moron," Riku responded nonchalantly. "That'd be like me asking you what you wished for."

"Good point," Sora answered and scrunched his nose up some. The brunet inhaled deeply and looked out at the beautiful night cityscape. "God, it's so beautiful here."

"I know," Riku mused as he leaned against the wall near the fountain.

"I'd love to live here," Sora whispered into the cold night, hugging his arms tightly to his chest.

"Maybe someday you will," Riku pointed out. He was smiling up until he noticed the frown scribbled onto his best friend's face. It took the older a few minutes to realize just why Sora was frowning. Oh. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, pushing off the wall to stand closer to his spiky friend. "Sora, I'm sure that you'll be fine. The doctor didn't sound too concerned, right?"

Sora shrugged and emotionlessly closed his eyes. Despite the action, his body shook.

"Sora…" Riku gently wrapped his arm around his best friend's waist. Carefully, he pulled Sora in for a hug. At once, Sora leaned against the taller, resting his fatigued body flush to Riku's, head on his chest. Riku sighed and placed his chin in the mess of brown, unruly spikes, all the while inhaling Sora's alluring scent. And deep down he wished this was more than just a conciliatory action.

"You okay?" Riku questioned after a moment of silence.

Sora looked up from his hiding place and stared at his best friend. "Oh, yeah I'm fine."

Riku nodded and watched as Sora pulled away from the warm embrace. He sheepishly smiled at Riku and rubbed the back of his neck. His gaze drifted down to his feet which he was shuffling uneasily. "That was probably really awkward for you, right?" the brunet guessed with an impromptu cough.

"Its fine," Riku reassured and forced a chuckle. He offered a smile and ruffled Sora's hair. "Maybe we should head back. We can head back and watch movies all night, if you'd like."

"Sounds fun to me," Sora stated as a smile appeared.

The two teens turned their back on the Trevi Fountain and headed down the road that they had taken to get to the marvel. On the way back, as the cold wind nipped at them and the city lights blinded them, a blonde girl accidentally ran into them. And by them, more specifically Sora. She was carrying a large amount of books and boxes and had lost her balance, tripping over her own long scarf and feet right into the tired brunet. The cliché meeting progressed as Sora toppled backwards onto the sidewalk, followed by the young girl falling beside him, landing on her bottom gracefully. Her things fluttered in the air and landed haphazardly throughout the area. Riku arched a brow as the scene played out in front of him.

"Graceful, Sora," Riku commented as he chuckled uneasily. The silveret slipped down into a crouching position beside his fallen friend, eying him for a moment.

Sora coughed and then spat. He shuffled his body up so that he was resting on his knees, body awkwardly bent over. His blue eyes widened when he realized that a girl was sitting a few feet away from him, rubbing her scraped knee with a large, but beautiful, frown.

"Are you okay?" the brunet questioned quickly. He scrambled away from his best friend, temporarily forgetting his own soreness, and over to the girl's side.

"Hm?" The blonde girl looked up from her bleeding knee and to the boy beside her. Her shoulder-length blonde hair clung to her sweat-covered face as her blue eyes stared at Sora with a mixture of dull pain and surprise. The white dress she wore appeared to be ruined from the fall. The hem was tattered and ripped in multiple places. Also, her blue heels appeared laid beside her, snapped in half from the fall.

"Are you okay?" Sora repeated.

"Oh," she laughed embarrassedly and lowered her gaze. "God, I'm so sorry, " she began, looking at the slight rips in the boy's clothes. "I don't know what possessed me to attempt to carry so much wearing heels."

"I don't know," Sora laughed and glanced at her fallen belongings. Without warning, the brunet began collecting them, placing them in a neat pile beside the fallen girl. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you need us to call the hospital?"

The blonde girl laughed and looked between the flustered brunet and the rather indifferent silveret. She shrugged. "I've had worse," she admitted and brushed off her legs from small stones. "I just need to get this nasty scrape cleaned up and I'll be good."

"Yeah. Don't want to get it infected," Sora replied and smiled as he finished collecting the girl's things. "I'm Sora, by the way. And this is Riku." He gestured behind himself to the now standing silver-haired teenager.

"Pleasure to meet you both," the girl laughed and carefully got to her feet, ignoring the sting on the bottom of her bare feet. "I'm Naminé, the ungraceful," she added in jokingly.

Sora chuckled and sheepishly smiled. Riku rolled his eyes and went back to remaining silent. He wasn't going to intrude—how could he? Sora seemed to be completely enthralled by the pretty stranger. Or maybe that was just Sora's sex-drive talking. Riku wasn't in the mood to place mental bets with his heart and mind regarding his unrequited love.

"Do you live here, or?..." Sora began and arched a brow. Both were now standing: Naminé with her books and boxes in her arms, and Sora with his hands awkwardly in his pockets.

"Visiting," Naminé responded with a beautiful smile. "You know, for college break."

"Oh, so you're in college? Where do you go?" Sora asked curiously.

"Penn State," she answered and shifted around on the sidewalk, slipping on her broken heels. They were now technically flats. Oh well, good enough to walk back to the hotel in.

"Oh, awesome," Sora said. "I'm graduating this year from High School, at last!" he beamed brightly and offered another famous smile. Riku's stomach churned. "Do you need any help getting back to your hotel? Or wherever you're headed?"

"You know, that'd actually be nice. I have a bad feeling I'm going to trip," she joked and smiled friendly at Sora. Her eyes batted and she appeared quite pacific.

"Of course," Sora chuckled and inhaled the cool breeze into his body pleasantly. "Where's the hotel?"

"The Cicerone," she explained with a wide smile and then paused, the pretty smile disappearing. "Is that too far from where you're both headed?"

"We're at the Selene, so no, I don't think it's that far," Sora said and laughed. He paused as well, remembering his best friend. "Riku, do you want to come or are you just going to head back to the Selene?..."

Riku frowned. He wouldn't intrude. Sora _obviously_ had something on his mind. And it totally contradicted everything Sora had always told him about love. The silveret shrugged. "I'm a bit tired so I'm just going to head back. I know my way back. Just don't get lost." He tossed Sora an extra card key. "Have fun."

Sora blinked in confusion as his friend began walking away, hands buried in his jacket pockets. The brunet cocked his head to the side and frowned some. He sighed, inhaled deeply, and turned back to Naminé. "He kinda looked sick, so it's good that he went back." He smiled and gestured to the open road, gingerly stealing a few books to help the beautiful girl.

And then they walked off, eagerly chatting about each other's life, under the bright stars of Rome. Very few looks were exchanged, but the words spoke volumes. However, the entire time Sora walked with Naminé, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about what awaited him. Naminé was naturally pretty, she seemed to be interested in similar things, and was extremely kind. What would it lead to? Despite those thoughts, another one clung to Sora's mind. When Riku had left, why did he look so damn…distraught?

**xxxxxx**

"Riku, dear, where is Sora?"

Riku lifted his gaze from the hotel floor as he entered a half hour later. His aquamarine eyes rose and met his mother's questioning one. The silveret casually bit his bottom lip and shrugged. When he watched her eyes turn from questioning to flustered, he decided to change his answer. "He's with some girl he met at the Fountain," Riku explained as he closed the door behind himself and removed his jacket, still feeling incredibly cold, even inside the stuffy hotel room.

Sondra frowned. "Some girl?" she repeated, as if scandalized. "And why did you let him run off with some girl he just met?"

"He was flirting so much that I almost got sick," Riku explained shrugging again. "He kept blushing and smiling and I thought, 'hey, why not let Sora enjoy himself and score? It's obvious I'm not going to during this vacation.'" He scoffed miserably.

"So our conversation at dinner helped nothing?" Sondra questioned skeptically. She removed her earrings and held them gingerly in her palms, eyeing her son with complete stun. She thought she had gotten through to him, and here he was, letting Sora spend his nights with a girl he had just met.

Riku shrugged yet again as he leaned against the entryway wall. "Mom, it doesn't matter. Sora's straight and—"

"You're going to just let him have sex with some random girl when you _could_ be spending time wooing him?" Sondra questioned and furrowed her brows. "Riku, I have failed to bring you up correctly. It has become obvious to me that you do not have one ounce of common sense." She dramatically fainted against the wall.

"It's not funny, Mother," Riku grumbled and crossed his arms to his chest. "Maybe I'm just _selfless_."

"Or maybe you're just letting your fear drive you," Sondra suggested and stood back up. She removed her necklace and stared into the doorway to the bathroom, as if inspecting herself.

"Maybe," Riku mused and then shook his head. "Listen Mom, I just want Sora to be happy and enjoy this trip." _You have no idea how little of life he probably has left…_ "Just let Sora do as he pleases. I'm not going to intrude and make him pissed at me. If he didn't want to do what he's done, he wouldn't have."

Sondra grumbled to herself, as if stating something important under her breath. Regardless, the woman walked down the hall and placed a reassuring hand onto Riku's shoulder. "When Sora gets back tonight, I want you to do something. Perhaps not confess or kiss him or whatnot, but do something, Riku. Don't giveaway your chance to some girl."

Riku sighed and smiled beguilingly at his mother. "Okay.."

"Good." She patted him on the head and gestured to the bedroom door. "Now go in there, think of something, and get some sleep."

Riku nodded and wearily did as he was instructed. Just what could he do? He groaned and closed the bedroom door behind himself. He leaned against it and moaned out loud. He was so fucking _stupid_. He just let Sora spend the night at a girl's_ hotel_. And that meant sex and… Riku lowered his gaze, fists clenched by his sides, refusing to break down. He had just given Sora away to someone. And it hurt so god damn much.

**xxxxxx**

It was seven in the morning when the brunet finally did return. Riku was fast asleep, cuddling a pillow close when he was poked awake. With a groan, aquamarine eyes slipped open and were met with cloudy blue ones. The tired silveret cocked a brow, yawned, and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and allowed reality to sink back into him. Sora was standing next to the bed, fully clothed, with wilder hair than usual and hazy eyes. It was seven in the morning and Riku was only clad in boxers. The silveret yawned again and paused, meeting his best friend's gaze again. Okay, something was totally up with him.

"Don't tell me you just got back," Riku stated drowsily, lips quivering.

Sora laughed awkwardly and lowered his gaze. Cautiously, the brunet slipped onto the bed beside Riku and breathed in deeply. He stared at his feet and finally decided to speak. "No. I slept out on the couch in the main room. I didn't want to wake you up when I got back… but, I need to talk to you, Riku."

Riku's heart leapt with hope. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Last night…"

"Yes?" Riku questioned curiously, sitting up straighter so that he could meet his best friend's gaze fully.

"I kissed her," Sora breathed out deeply. He blew air awkwardly out of his puffed out cheeks, watching in tedious amusement as his locks of brown fluttered faintly at the breeze. His hands locked fretfully in his lap as he rested beside his best friend since birth.

"Oh, Naminé?" Riku guessed lamely. His lips pursed into a thin line and he remained stoic.

"Yeah, of course her," Sora huffed and awkwardly rubbed the nape of his neck. "I helped her bring her things back to her place. We had hot chocolate together and then I said I had to get going. She kissed me goodnight and I just stood there. I didn't kiss back and I regret that, I suppose. I was too stunned." A hefty blush danced onto the youth's cheeks at the mere recollection.

"Call her?" Riku suggested with a yawn. The silveret leaned back against the headboard and resisted the primitive urge to bash his skull against the carved wood. Being barbaric with Sora in the room was obviously a no-no.

"She did give me her number," Sora mused and thoughtfully removed the slip of paper from his pocket. "See?"

Riku peered across the bed at the paper. Aquamarine eyes wandered enviously along the neatly written numbers. "That's nice. Sounds like somebody is going to get laid," the silveret hummed as he leaned back once more, arms coming to rest across his chest.

Sora scorched a hot scarlet shade. "No!...I barely know her! I wouldn't do that, Riku! I'm not a…slut."

Riku sighed out deeply. "Sora, I know you're not. I know you're a very emotional person. I was just playing with you," he murmured and then proceeded to explain. "I just thought that if you got to know her over this vacation, you two may decide to before you leave…" He trailed off.

"…I don't think that'll happen, Riku. I don't see us getting that close." Sora bit his lip and stared out the window of their hotel room. "I'm sorry for waking you up this early," he began again. "My back was just starting to hurt and I couldn't keep last night off my mind and…" Deep breath. "I wanted your advice."

"I'll always be here for advice, Sora," Riku murmured as he finally shifted so he could lie down once more.

Sora remained sitting beside his sprawled out best friend. Blue eyes swarmed over the reposing teen. "Is it all right if I sleep for another few hours with you?" he asked quietly, fingers pinching together apprehensively.

Riku cracked open a tired aquamarine eye and observed the brunet. "Sora, this room is half yours. Lie down and get some rest. You don't need to ask me, moron," he yawned and patted the spot between their bodies. "If you still want to talk, just lie down and we will. Seeing you sitting up is weird."

"Afraid I'm gonna rape you?" Sora teased as he peeled his shirt off and tossed it onto the floor. He sat up a bit more and went to unbuttoning his jeans.

"…Considering you're stripping, I vote yes," Riku muttered and kept his gaze glued to his lithe's friend body.

"I'm not going to rape you," Sora pouted and slid his pants off. He slipped under the blankets and sighed in pleasure. "Besides, you'd enjoy it," he teased.

"Oh really? Since when?" Riku chuckled. _Since ever, _he added on mentally and smacked himself, mentally, as well.

"Since…I started stripping!" Sora laughed and stuck his tongue out at his friend. Brown bangs framed his face perfectly and the pair laid, side by side, in silence for a few moments. Sora's perky blue eyes dulled with exhaustion as Riku stared back at him, eyelashes being the only thing keeping him from spilling his guts.

"I love how we just lay around until nine," Sora laughed quietly, eyes soft.

"Yeah, we're cool," Riku agreed and offered a weary smile. "Maybe you're cooler, considering Naminé is hitting on you."

Sora blushed harshly. "Stop it!" he pouted and hid his face under the blankets. He mumbled a few muffled words and remained hiding, his butt sticking up straight in the air beneath the sheets.

Riku snorted in amusement and playfully swatted the elevated bump. He heard Sora squeak. The brunet's face emerged from the blankets, stained a dark crimson. "W-what'd you do that for?!" he demanded, rubbing his behind where he had been smacked.

"It was sticking in the air. It was impolite," Riku mused. "Taught you a lesson."

"Didn't have to smack my ass to teach me it," Sora pouted and continued rubbing his slightly sore rump. "What if I smacked yours? Would you be upset?"

Riku paused. _No, I'd pin you to this bed, grind our hips together, and ravish you senseless…_ "You wouldn't do that."

"Oh really? I'm no chicken," Sora huffed and scrunched his nose up. "Anything you can do I can do better," he sang and smirked some at the end, hair sticking out in every which direction.

Riku chuckled. "So if I did a guy, you'd do a guy as well…better than I did?"

Sora flushed and then paled. "Excuse me?..."

Now would be a lovely time… "What? I said do a guy. As in—"

"I…I know what you meant," Sora clarified and sheepishly looked away. "I meant, why _would_ you do a guy?"

Riku sucked in a deep breath. It'd be quite hard to confess and hit on Sora if the brunet didn't even know he was gay. Maybe just that tidbit of information would be alright to divulge. But then again…would Sora allow their playing still? He groaned some. Telling Sora he was gay wasn't like he was telling him he was in _love_, or lust, or whatever. It was simply stating where his interests were. And maybe that'd be a good thing. Maybe he could take baby steps towards his heartfelt confession.

"Because that's what gay people do?...Guys?"

Sora blinked a few times. "S- wait. You're gay?" He blinked and blinked and arched a brow. When no response came, the brunet slowly licked his lips and lowered his gaze. "Geez, Riku, thanks for lying to me this whole time. What happened to telling your best friend everything?"

Riku bristled at that. "Yeah. Telling your best friend you're gay is _definitely_ as easy as telling him you cheated on a test," he scoffed and rolled his eyes. The silveret rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, slightly irked at how Sora was responding to such a deep confession. Wasn't he supposed to understand and support him?

"But…I thought you liked girls," Sora stated stupidly. "You know. You _were_ the one that always talked about girls'—"

"Don't go there, ever again," Riku groaned as his hand sifted through his hair. "I realized that the woman genitals are not attractive. Whatsoever. And I'd prefer to not touch two giant mounds of tumor-looking objects. There's no appeal. Whatsoever, okay?"

"…Two mounds of _tumors_?" He laughed softly. "…and you find, uh…cock attractive?..." he whispered.

Riku shrugged. "It doesn't have to be attractive to be appealing. Besides, it's the personality and demeanor that attracts me. Girls just lack something in that department. It isn't all physical, Sora."

"Oh…" The brunet trailed off and played with the hem of the sheets. "You don't…you haven't taken…"

"No, Sora, I haven't taken it up the ass, nor have I given it, _nor_ have I ever kissed a guy," Riku explained, feeling the need to get everything out there. "So before you go assuming your best friend is some sort of gay man whore, just listen to what I said, okay?"

Sora took in a deep breath. "You're mad now…" When Riku didn't answer, Sora's heart dropped. The brunet winced some. Slowly, he eased closer to his best friend who was breathing harshly, eyes tightly shut, and hands clenching the sheets. Sora quietly laid his head against the side of Riku's torso and wrapped his arms around the older in a sideways hug. Blue eyes slipped shut and he nuzzled close, his leg tangling with his best friend's. "I'm sorry…"

Riku's eyes shot open and he felt heat course through his body. The silveret gulped and eyed Sora. "…And you're clinging to me like a koala…why?"

"I didn't mean to yell at you," Sora mumbled into the other's chest, his hot breath tickling the bare skin. "I just wanted to understand you completely. I've never had any good relationships with anyone gay. I wanted to know more about it; I'm sorry for being over curious and stuff…"

"Sora, I wasn't mad," Riku breathed out and ruffled the youth's hair. "I was startled by your onslaught of questions. I thought you were patronizing me."

"Never," Sora corrected and closed his eyes. "Listen…can we just sleep? I haven't slept in over twenty four hours, it seems, and I'd love a few hours rest before we go attacking the city."

"All right," Riku said quietly and brushed his hand through brown locks of hair. His hand slid away, afraid it had been there too long. "Have a nice rest. See you in a few hours."

"You too. Sleep well, Riku," Sora whispered and shut his eyes again, body relaxing.

And as Riku lay there, he realized one thing—Sora hadn't moved out of the embrace. Since when did Sora enjoy cuddling as he slept?.. The older's heart swelled and he kept his arms stationary. He refused to hold Sora. And so he just fell asleep, body frigid from terror and confusion.

**xxxxxx**

"I didn't know you text," Riku noted as he fixed the bed, silver hair pooling over his shoulders rather annoyingly.

"Ah. Naminé texted me so I figured it'd be polite to return the gesture," Sora explained calmly and gestured to his cell phone. "She says that she'd like to have lunch with the both of us. Is that all right, Riku? Do you think your mom would mind another guest at lunch?"

"As long as she paid for herself," Riku murmured as he pulled the sheets up to the neck of the bed. _I don't want my mother paying for some random girl that's stealing my best friend from me. Sorry if that's cruel, Sora, but you have no idea._

"I'll pay for her, then," Sora decided as he tugged on a clean shirt and went to finding clean pants. "Hey Riku, what shirt should I wear?"

"I don't know. One that covers your chest?" the silveret suggested as he peered over his shoulder. He watched in silent entertainment as Sora fumbled through drawers, deciding whether or not to change for the third time. He tugged on a pair of shorts and looked over at Riku, stunned to see him watching.

"You're not going to change again, are you?" Riku muttered as he sat down, acting as if his staring was no big deal.

"Maybe not," Sora finally decided and walked over to the bed. He plopped down beside Riku and stared at his phone. "…You sure you're not upset? I feel like I'm ignoring you."

"I'm fine. Hormones are a natural part of life…" Riku explained and smiled affectionately. "Now, let's just go get my Mom and head off. Make sure you put on some cologne. Women apparently are enamored by that stuff," he elucidated and got up off the bed. He grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door of the bedroom.

"Uhm…Riku, wait."

Riku paused and glanced over his shoulder back at Sora. "Yeah, Sora?"

"What you said earlier…about being gay…you must like someone, then. I mean, if you didn't, then you wouldn't know that you're gay," Sora decided in a quiet, almost fearful voice. Blue eyes stared at Riku, pleading for the truth.

Riku shifted uncomfortably and rested his hand on the door. "And if I do?"

Sora bit his lip. "…When we get back from Rome I'll help you. I don't want you to be lonely."

Riku's heart nearly collapsed. "…of course…"

And he left the room to go fetch his darling mother and cuss out the heavens above for being so god damn _cruel_ to him.


End file.
